September – English Lyrics

• By: Earth, Wind and Fire

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the infectious groove of Earth, Wind & Fire's "September," a timeless classic that blends disco, funk, and R&B into pure joy. Through its catchy rhythms and memorable phrases like "Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember?", you can immerse yourself in the vibrant sounds of the 70s and experience how music can communicate pure emotion, even with seemingly nonsensical lyrics. This song offers a fantastic entry point to understanding the lyrical flow and upbeat energy characteristic of English-language funk and soul music.

[English]

(gentle music)

♪ Do you remember ♪

♪ The 21st night of September ♪

♪ Love was changin' the minds of pretenders ♪

♪ While chasin' the clouds away ♪

♪ Our hearts were ringin' ♪

♪ In the key that our souls were singin' ♪

♪ As we danced in the night, remember ♪

♪ How the stars stole the night away, oh, yeah ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, dancin' in September ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, never was a cloudy day ♪

♪ Ba-du-da, ba-du-da, ba-du-da, ba-du ♪

♪ Ba-du-da, ba-du, ba-du-da, ba-du ♪

♪ Ba-du-da, ba-du, ba-du-da ♪

♪ My thoughts are with you ♪

♪ Holdin' hands with your heart to see you ♪

♪ Only blue talk and love, remember ♪

♪ How we knew love was here to stay ♪

♪ Now December ♪

♪ Found the love that we shared in September ♪

♪ Only blue talk and love, remember ♪

♪ The true love we share today ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, dancin' in September ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, never was a cloudy day ♪

♪ There was a ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya dee-ya, dee-ya, say, do you remember ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya dee-ya, dee-ya, dancin' in September ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya dee-ya, dee-ya, golden dreams were shiny days ♪

♪ The bell was ringin', oh, oh ♪

♪ Our souls were singin' ♪

♪ Do you remember never a cloudy day Yow ♪

♪ There was a ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya dee-ya, dee-ya, say, do you remember ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya dee-ya, dee-ya, dancin' in September ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya dee-ya, dee-ya, never was a cloudy day ♪

♪ And we'll say ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya dee-ya, dee-ya, say, do you remember ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya dee-ya, dee-ya, dancin' in September ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya dee ya, dee-ya, golden dreams were shiny days ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya ♪

♪ Ba-dee-ya, dee-ya, dee-ya ♪

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
remember /rɪˈmem.bər/ A2	verb - to be able to bring back a piece of information into your mind
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - a strong feeling of affection verb - to have a strong feeling of affection for (someone)
chasing /ˈtʃeɪ.sɪŋ/ B1	verb - to run after someone or something in order to catch them
clouds /klaʊdz/ A2	noun - a visible mass of condensed watery vapor floating in the atmosphere, typically high above the ground
hearts /hɑːrts/ A2	noun - the organ that pumps blood around the body
souls /soʊlz/ B1	noun - the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal
danced /dænst/ A1	verb - to move rhythmically to music
stars /stɑːrz/ A1	noun - a fixed luminous point in the night sky
night /naɪt/ A1	noun - the period from sunset to sunrise in each twenty-four hours
day /deɪ/ A1	noun - the period of light between sunrise and sunset
thoughts /θɔːts/ B1	noun - an idea or opinion produced by thinking, or occurring suddenly in the mind
hands /hændz/ A1	noun - the end part of a person's arm beyond the wrist, including the fingers and thumb
heart /hɑːrt/ A2	noun - the organ that pumps blood around the body
blue /bluː/ A1	adjective - of a color such as that of a clear unclouded sky
true /truː/ A2	adjective - in accordance with fact or reality
golden /ˈɡoʊl.dən/ B2	adjective - made of gold
dreams /driːms/ A2	noun - a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep
shiny /ˈʃaɪ.ni/ B1	adjective - reflecting light

Key Grammar Structures

• Do you remember the 21st night of September?

  ➔ Simple Present Question

  ➔ Uses the auxiliary verb "do" to form a question in the simple present tense. Asks if the listener recalls a specific event.

• Love was changin' the minds of pretenders

  ➔ Past Continuous Tense

  ➔ Uses "was" + verb-ing to describe an action in progress in the past. Describes the act of love transforming perceptions.

• While chasin' the clouds away

  ➔ Participle Clause

  ➔ "Chasin'" is a present participle acting as an adverbial clause, describing an action happening simultaneously with the main clause. Short for "While (they were) chasing..."

• Our hearts were ringin' in the key that our souls were singin'

  ➔ Relative Clause with past continuous

  ➔ Uses a relative clause "that our souls were singin'" to modify "the key." Both "were ringin'" and "were singin'" are in the past continuous tense, indicating ongoing actions in the past.

• How the stars stole the night away

  ➔ Indirect Question

  ➔ This is an embedded question acting as the object of the verb "remember". The word order is statement order (subject-verb) rather than question order.

• Never was a cloudy day

  ➔ Inversion (negative adverb)

  ➔ The sentence starts with the negative adverb "Never," causing inversion of the subject and auxiliary verb. The standard word order would be "A cloudy day was never".

• Found the love that we shared in September

  ➔ Relative Clause with past simple

  ➔ The relative clause "that we shared in September" modifies "the love". The verb "shared" is in the past simple, referring to a completed action in the past.